Chapter 644: The Four Symbols Cult is Not...

Chapter 644 The Four Symbols Cult is not...

These two were never going to wait around here patiently. In truth, finding the location of the duel was quite easy—how far could it really be around the capital? Who could possibly miss the energy signature of a clash between Heaven Rank masters...

The two soon detected a surge of energy to the northeast of the capital. Sensing the ripples, they dashed over like streaks of smoke. From afar, they spotted Zhao Changhe and Suzaku standing opposite one another on the barren edge of a rocky mountain.

Hiding at a distance and craning their necks to watch, the first faint sound to drift into their ears was Suzaku’s icy interrogation: "How are your injuries? Lest anyone say this seat takes advantage of the wounded."

Fuck, if you’re worried, just say it out loud. You're more worried about him than either of us.

Then again, we saw with our own eyes how he could regenerate after being battered to a near-paralytic state by the Sea Emperor's flood dragon, but Suzaku didn’t. Just moments before, Zhao Changhe had hacked himself with his own blade to temper the divine sword with his blood, leaving his chest covered in a bloody mess that looked rather horrifying.

Zhao Changhe laughed freely. "The Venerable Master needn’t mind. My physique is somewhat unusual; my defense is quite ordinary, but my healing capacity is rather excellent."

Suzaku said coldly, "Is that why you constantly get yourself hurt like an idiot?"

Zhao Changhe: "..."

Suzaku continued, "If nothing else, if the cult members see the Night Emperor covered in blood day after day from clashing with others, it would look highly un-Night Emperor-like."

Zhao Changhe nodded. "Fine. In the future, I’ll try to get bloodied in a different spot."

Suzaku: "?"

"Is the Venerable Master worrying about my future image?"

"Self-conceited." Suzaku flicked her cloak, her expression chilling into a stern glare. "A character who will be brought to his knees by this seat within a few moves has no need to worry about his future image."

Zhao Changhe smiled faintly. "After you, Venerable Master."

Suzaku asked, "Where are your saber and sword? This seat has always fought empty-handed. Are you planning to do the same?"

Zhao Changhe replied, "The Star River sword exerts a slight suppression over the Venerable Master, which would make victory unsporting. I will only use the Dragon Sparrow... After you, Venerable Master."

Only using the Dragon Sparrow, yet your blade is nowhere to be seen... and what's more, this implies you're letting me make the first move.

Even for a young couple sparring between themselves, this attitude vexed Suzaku to no end. Do you truly think I wouldn’t dare to beat you?

Over on the side, Sanniang was utterly astonished. Even if you have broken through to the Third Secret Realm, there is still a clear gap between you and Suzaku. If you used the Star River, you might stand a chance, as that suppression is no joke. But using only the Dragon Sparrow... are you certain you can win? Don't let the carriage overturn.

*Swoosh!* Suzaku did not stand on ceremony with Zhao Changhe. With a sudden claw strike, she snatched at his throat.

Snow began to fall from the sky.

The terrifying, scorching flames embedded within her claw seethed amidst the drifting snow. The scene was poignantly beautiful, yet carried an intensely terrifying chill of slaughter.

Every time Zhao Changhe saw Suzaku strike, he felt it fit the aesthetics of violence perfectly. Truly beautiful.

Zhao Changhe pulled his fist back to his waist, bellowed, and punched out with a resounding boom.

He didn't even draw the Dragon Sparrow; he used his fist!

It wasn't the standard Xuanwu Fist... In truth, Sanniang had never taught him the complete forms of her own fist technique, nor did it share much connection with the arts of the Four Symbols Xuanwu. She had merely passed down its intent, allowing him to comprehend the power of the ocean by punching the waves at the seabed. Rather than the Xuanwu Fist, this was more like the fist of Hai Pinglan. Back then, even Hai Pinglan thought it resembled his own style...

Yet, in addition to that tsunami-like violence and grandeur, this single punch fused elements of something else.

The Wang family's Cloud-Dispersing Ocean-Quelling Art, and the Divine Brilliance Sect's Divine Brilliance Wind and Thunder.

The three possessed different essences, different moves, and different ways of exerting force, but they shared a potent commonality: their outward characteristics were all exceptionally wild and overbearing. Once the fist was thrown, wind and thunder erupted, and the sea and sky roared as if the entire space had collapsed. The surrounding snowflakes swirled wildly through the air, forming a column of erupting power that resembled a shockwave.

Fierce as Suzaku's flames were, beneath the impact of this violent column of air, they could barely burn a thing...

Sanniang and Xia Chichi exchanged a glance, both realizing why Zhao Changhe wanted to fight this battle and why he chose this manner of combat.

They had fought alongside Zhao Changhe many times and understood his abilities and combat prowess intimately, whereas Suzaku did not truly understand him that well. In her mind, there might indeed be a lingering sense of "marrying down to a lesser man" or treating him as a "male concubine." Even if she didn't consciously think so, it likely lingered in her subconscious.

Xia Chichi perhaps thought Changhe was merely displaying his abilities to the Venerable Master, but Sanniang knew full well that this rascal was telling Suzaku: the little man in your heart can actually be on top of you!

*Boom!* The column of air and the claw of raging fire collided.

Suzaku's expression remained unchanged, and the momentum of her claw did not even falter as her five fingers pierced directly into the column of air.

The column of air, capable of shattering mountain boulders, was torn apart by this single claw like hot iron through butter, instantly exploding as though it were made of tofu.

Meanwhile, the flames, which seemed as though they would be blown away meaninglessly by the column of air, crawled along the current instead, burning all the way down to Zhao Changhe's fist.

*Crack!* Zhao Changhe transformed his fist into a finger. A flash of sword qi manifested at his fingertip, piercing through the flames and pointing straight at the center of her palm.

The two exchanged several crackling moves in close quarters before finally trading a palm strike, each sliding backward. While Zhao Changhe's inner energy meant nothing to Suzaku, Suzaku's flames were ultimately extinguished completely through his continuous parries and counters.

They appeared evenly matched.

During his retreat, Zhao Changhe's blood and qi were somewhat chaotic. He used the backward momentum to secretly regulate his breathing, yet in the brief instant he turned his awareness inward, the Suzaku before him suddenly vanished.

Zhao Changhe's heart leaped. He dug his foot into the ground, accelerating his retreat.

The next moment, a claw swept past, brushing against his nose. Zhao Changhe swiftly raised his palm to block, his back slamming against the mountain rock. Suzaku's mask abruptly appeared before his eyes, a hint of playfulness seeming to flicker within them: "Your strength is indeed decent, but you are still a bit short..."

A faint fragrance drifted into his nostrils, and a sudden fire flared up in his heart.

It was the fire of desire.

At this moment, Zhao Changhe naturally understood that the fire existed not only outwardly, but within the heart as well. Back then, that Heart Flame had been subdued by Suzaku, serving as the catalyst that helped her break through to the Third Secret Realm. And the so-called Heart Flame comprised rage, jealousy, desire... it encompassed them all.

Previously, Wang Daoning had suffered from rage and jealousy, but at this moment, what was aroused within Zhao Changhe was the fire of desire, meant for his consumption alone.

In an instant, ten thousand stray thoughts flooded his mind. To be distracted by such thoughts in the middle of a battle—how could he possibly keep fighting?

Suzaku's teasing voice sounded like a lover’s whisper: "Are you also trying to arouse my bloodthirsty baleful aura? But it is useless against me..."

Her slender hand pressed gently toward his lower abdomen: "You are about to lose..."

"Is that so?" Zhao Changhe suddenly smiled.

Suzaku's heart skipped a beat. The hand that was supposed to have subdued her enemy had been seized by her wrist at some unknown point, missing his lower abdomen by a mere inch. The gaze in his eyes was perfectly clear; where was there any of the turbid confusion that should have been induced by the fire of desire?

The moment he gripped her wrist, Zhao Changhe's right hand moved as well.

A broad saber materialized abruptly, slamming down toward Suzaku's shoulder like Mount Tai pressing down from above.

With one hand caught, it was difficult to wrench free in a split second. A saber brought down at such close proximity was indeed hard to evade. Suzaku's left hand struck out like lightning, slapping against the flat of the broad saber's blade.

Sabers inherently possessed very few variations. When a massive broad saber descended like a door panel at such close range, it was a pure contest of strength to see if this single palm strike could deflect him. Suzaku was confident in this; from their previous collision, she could tell that while Zhao Changhe’s strength was indeed formidable, it was still a bit unrefined compared to her own.

However, the moment her palm struck the blade, Suzaku suddenly felt that something was amiss.

It felt as though she hadn't struck a blade, but rather the vault of heaven itself.

Neither here nor there, she had clearly hit her mark, yet all her power felt as though it had struck a river of sand, absorbed entirely until nothing remained. It was an boundless sky. The sky continued to sink, carrying an irresistible power, pressing heavily upon her shoulder like a mountain.

Suzaku instinctively mounted a final struggle, twisting her body in an attempt to slip out from under this overwhelming pressure. Zhao Changhe had long anticipated this. Shifting his footing slightly, his left hand pulled on her wrist, and the two suddenly spun. In an instant, the position inverted, and Zhao Changhe pinned her against the rock behind her.

The blade pressed against her neck, his hand pinned her to the rock, and his body pressed tightly against hers—an all-encompassing oppression and restraint.

The air froze in time.

"What is that..." In the distance, Xia Chichi was struck with awe. "When did he obtain this kind of power?"

Sanniang provided the commentary: "Night Flowing Sand... This strike didn't rely on his own strength; it was the might of his newly forged Dragon Sparrow. The silly bird assumed only the Star River sword would possess a similar intent of the night sky and starry vault, but she missed his weapon-forging process the day before and didn't know his blade had been reforged... Thus, she viewed the Dragon Sparrow with outdated eyes, leading to a miscalculation. Changhe’s move is quite interesting. He doesn't possess any techniques of the Night Emperor, yet the strike that clinched his victory happens to be the night sky suppressing Suzaku."

"Then how did Changhe break free from the Venerable Master's Heart Flame interference? Could it be that the Ice Heart Spell Tang Wanzhuang passed down to him previously has this effect?"

"...Actually, he cheated. His Ice Heart Spell is no match for Suzaku's Heart Flame at all. He had long since secretly used a leaf from the Dragon Soul Wood to protect his heart. Suzaku missed many of our adventures with him and has no idea what sort of strange, bizarre trump cards he holds." Sanniang withheld a sentence and didn't tell Xia Chichi: Suzaku did not know her opponent, but Zhao Changhe was already well aware that Huangfu Qing and Suzaku were one and the same. Thus, all his preparations were crystal clear. This was an information asymmetry, not a case of Suzaku being inferior to him in strength.

If both sides possessed equal information and fought again, the victor would undoubtedly be Suzaku. But if it were a real battle, when would there ever be a chance to try again? There were plenty of people who regretted dying before they could unleash their ultimate moves, just like the Sea Emperor who had been miserably shot to death.

A loss was a loss.

Although the Chronicle of the Turbulent World wouldn't flash for a mere sparring match, a loss in a spar was still a loss.

Snowflakes brushed lightly; by the rocky cliff, Vermilion Bird leaned against the stone, Zhao Changhe pressing down firmly, blade sheathed, posture unchanged. They stared silently, the atmosphere frozen in time.

Though the blade was sheathed, Vermilion Bird could have struggled, yet she no longer did. In their mutual gaze, both unconsciously gasped for breath.

Zhao Changhe’s eyes fell upon Vermilion Bird’s red lips—those fiery, seductive lips right before him, just a bow of his head away from a kiss.

Vermilion Bird’s gaze was infinitely complex; slowly she spoke: “Is the honored deity’s look meant to trifle with a subordinate?”

Zhao Changhe shifted his gaze from her lips and said softly, “You concede?”

Vermilion Bird replied bluntly, “Yes. I lost. According to the wager, Vermilion Bird is willing to be at your command.”

As she spoke, she let out a sigh of relief inside.

She hadn’t expected he could truly win, though it was a bit underhanded… but this way out was perfect.

This had been her secret hope all along, as Huangfu Qing—why else would she have let the Night Emperor’s sword stay with him and sent San Niang to teach him forging?

She just hadn’t thought this day would come so soon.

Then Zhao Changhe said, “How shall I command you?”

Vermilion Bird replied calmly, “The Four Symbols Venerables are the embodiment of the Four Symbols, the honored deity’s right hand. If you see this as offering myself in service, with only that in your mind, your vision is too narrow—disappointing.”

“But I have no desire to command anyone from the Four Symbols Sect…” Zhao Changhe said softly. “I already told the Venerable clearly: I only seek common interests with the Four Symbols Sect. I have no interest in being anyone’s deity. If there is something I want…”

He paused, then said each word deliberately: “Since our first meeting at the Luo Manor over two years ago, Zhao Changhe has long admired the Vermilion Bird Venerable… All I have done now seeks not the authority of the Four Symbols, but only the chance to taste your beauty.”

In the distance, Xia Chichi’s mouth fell open.

Holy shit?

Who would have guessed, Changhe!

Even Vermilion Bird was stunned: “You… you…”

Zhao Changhe lifted the hand holding her wrist, caught her palm, and pressed it against his chest: “My life is in the Venerable’s hands… If you refuse, just release your inner force.”

With that, he slowly leaned down and kissed her red lips.

“Wait… wait a… mmm…” Before Vermilion Bird could finish, her lips were sealed.

Her palm pressed against his chest—though she could have blasted him to pieces at any moment, she had no strength at all, only gently pushing there in a half-hearted resistance.

Xia Chichi stood dumbfounded.